PHILADELPHIA—Mick Cronin had to admit that the obvious reason his Cincinnati team is going home from the NCAA Tournament isn’t the only reason.

“The foul line beat us at the end of the day,” the Bearcats coach said, later adding, “Four-for-nine from the foul line killed us.”

Just not as much as Doug McDermott killed them. McDermott does that a lot. He and Creighton now are in position to try to do it to No. 2 seeded Duke in Sunday’s Midwest Regional Round of 32 meeting at the Wells Fargo Center. Creighton is there because of McDermott, the All-American forward who played like one Friday, leading the Blue Jays to a nerve-wracking 67-63 win.

“We play in the Big East, so we see real good players all the time,” Cronin said. “He can play anywhere for anybody. I thought he was the difference.’’

With 14 points in the first half -- including Creighton’s last eight before the break, and with four huge free throws in the final two minutes while Cincinnati scrapped and hustled their way back into it -- McDermott was the deciding factor. He led all scorers with 27 points, including two 3-pointers, and added 11 rebounds.

Then again, the star for Creighton very nearly was their downfall. He went through a brutal scoring drought as the Bearcats swarmed him relentlessly in the final eight minutes (his last field goal came with 8:39 to go and gave the Blue Jays their biggest lead at 52-44).

And he handed Cincinnati a huge opportunity with 53.1 seconds left and Creighton up only 60-54—he swung a reckless elbow near Shaquille Thomas’ head when trapped on an inbounds pass and was called for a flagrant-1 foul. Two free throws and the ball for Cincinnati.

“It’s just natural,” McDermott said. “I mean, I maybe was a little too high with the ball. Just probably a call you’ve got to make in that situation. I was being aggressive, and they got me there.”

It was destined to change momentum for good. It did, for Creighton. Thomas missed both free throws. Even when Sean Kilpatrick (17 of his 19 points in the second half) drained a 3 on the next possession to cut the lead in half, the effect was greatly lessened.

“If he makes them both, it’s a whole different ball game,” Cronin said.

It was no accident that Creighton then put away Cincinnati at the line. Including McDermott’s four, the Blue Jays hit eight in a row in the final 1:42 and 9-of-10 overall. That almost wasn’t enough, as Kilpatrick’s game-tying 3-point attempt with six seconds left spun in and out.

Kilpatrick also had a critical miss from the line, unable to complete a three-point play with 40.2 seconds left that could have cut the deficit to two points.

McDermott hardly worked solo. Center Gregory Echenique, once a Big East foe of Cincinnati at Rutgers before transferring, finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and physical play at both ends. Ethan Wragge hit four 3-pointers. But McDermott was the center of attention.

“If you have a 6-8 guy who can really do almost everything—like he can make 3s, he can take you off the block and everything—it’s kind of tough,’’ Kilpatrick said. “We’re not used to, like, 6-8 guys, especially in our league, doing things like that.’’

The swarms of Cincinnati defenders still gave it a valiant effort. They ganged up on McDermott at every opportunity in the final eight minutes. On consecutive possessions, Thomas blocked his shot from his favorite spot on the left baseline, they forced a bad McDermott pass into the post and they got another block down low from Titus Rubles.

That all helped Cincinnati close in on Creighton in the final minutes. Had Cincinnati been as proficient at the line as its opponent, the two teams still might be playing.

Instead, Cincinnati must wait until next season, when it plays in the first season of what used to be the original Big East. Creighton moves from the Missouri Valley to the “new” Big East. Possibly without McDermott, too, depending on whether he takes the leap to the NBA. None of that happens for at least one more game, though.

“Since last season, we wanted to get back to this game, like we’ve all been saying,’’ McDermott said of playing for a Sweet 16 berth. “It definitely plays a big factor, just because I want to go as far as we possibly can.’’